Video Game / Legacy of the Wizard

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Legacy of the Wizard is an 1989 action adventure RPG for the Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by Falcom. It is the fourth game in the Dragon Slayer series, and was the first to make it Stateside on consoles, courtesy of Brøderbund Software. Released in Japan as Dragon Slayer IV: DrasleFamily on the Famicom, it was notably the first game developed by Falcom specifically for a gaming console (the company was primarily a PC developer, releasing games on platforms such as the PC-8800 and the X1), although it was also released for the MSX2 and later ported to the original MSX (which were much closer to gaming consoles than traditional PCs).

It features the exploits of the Worzen family, a family of woodcutters. The grandfather is rather legendary for defeating and sealing away a dragon named Keela. However one day, there are signs of the dragon awakening and the family of humble lumberjacks resolve to strap on their adventuring outfits and venture into the vast dungeon, which lies directly below their log cabin in the woods.

That's the short version of the story of Legacy of the Wizard. The long version is spending many untold hours navigating the labyrinthine maze, collecting four crowns, a magic sword and other items, all the while trying to avoid running out of magic, keys and life. The dungeon is crawling with monsters at every turn and getting trapped is easier than you think should you stray into the wrong part of the dungeon with the wrong character.

Each of the family members has different abilities, each of which is suited for specific areas of the dungeon. Xemn, the father, can push blocks; Meyna, the mother, can fly; Lyll, the daughter, can break blocks and jump high; Pochi, the family's pet dragon dog... thing, is immune to damage from enemy monsters, and Roas, the son, can teleport at specific locations and use the Dragon Slayer.

A freeware remix for Legacy of the Wizard is currently in the works by Kiragames. The first beta version is available for download.

Adam Smith Hates Your Guts - Adam Smith keeps giving you magic when all you really need is keys or gold. Also, one clever mechanic the game uses is that items' drop rates are inversely proportional to how much you already have. Getting a lot of items while low on them is easy, topping off when you're 99% full is extremely difficult.

Eldritch Location - The underground ruins are very reminiscent of a cyclopean city, especially when there are one eyed, squid creatures flying everywhere.

Empty Room Psych - Happens frequently with how many dead ends there are in the game. Some of these area actually contained and were designed for collecting items in the MSX2 counterpart, but were moved in the NES version, rendering some of them vestigial.

Guide Dang It! - There are absolutely no in-game hints for this mind-bendingly large and complex dungeon, you don't even know which part of the dungeon you need to use a particular character and his abilities for, provided that you've found the items that ONLY that character can use...

Monster Town - The vast dungeon isn't really a town, but there are numerous inns and shops as well as evidence of what appears to be ancient cities and castles. They just happen to be populated by numerous monsters.

Poison Mushroom - The poison drop item which appears with alarming frequency. It doesn't take off very much life but it often appears in tight corridors where you can't get around them, forcing the player to pick them up anyways.

Scenery Porn - For an 8-bit game, some of the backdrops are quite picturesque. The castle to the left of the dungeon entrance. Many of the vistas in the dungeon with silhouettes of castles and towers and the volcano in Lyll's area. The boss rooms tend to lean towards Scenery Gorn.

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